According to research from professional services KPMG, corporate sustainability is good for business. Companies generally benefit from increased profitability, improved employee morale and a new customer base.

Vincent Neate, European Head of Climate Change and Sustainability at KPMG said: “It is certainly positive to see that all of the UK respondents and the majority of the 400 global companies we spoke to either have a sustainability plan in place or are in the process of developing one.”

The main business driver for sustainable practice is brand reputation enhancement at 40%. The biggest benefits of sustainability strategies are:

• attracting and retaining customers (32%);
• increased profitability (31.5%)  and
• better quality products or services (25%).

‘Corporate Sustainability: a progress report’ has also highlighted that finance and cost are the biggest challenges companies face when implementing sustainable practices.

Two-thirds of those polled said that a new set of rules was either very important or critical.

Yvo de Boer, Special Global Adviser for KPMG’s Climate Change and Sustainability practice said support and direction was needed to help more companies: “We must work to empower the private sector to make an impact on sustainability goals, but to do so, requires leadership in the private sector, and strong support from governments